Fire admit to interest in Jermaine Jones

Jermaine Jones might be joining MLS after all. It just might not be with one of the LA-based clubs.

Chicago Fire head coach Frank Yallop confessed to reporters following his side’s goalless draw with the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday that the Fire are interested in signing Jones this summer. Yallop did not offer many other details but it is all but guaranteed that the 32-year-old Jones will require a Designated Player deal, especially after his strong showing at this summer’s World Cup with the U.S. Men’s National Team.

“We have interest in the player for sure,” Yallop told reporters. “We’ve spoken to the agent, but at this point there’s nothing to add until someone agrees or it gets concluded. The truth of the matter is we have interest in the player but nothing has been finalized yet. That’s all I can say on it for now.”

The tough-as-nails, experienced midfielder has been linked with MLS for weeks now. A free agent with a home in Los Angeles, Jones was widely expected to land with either the LA Galaxy or Chivas USA.

Chicago, however, is apparently the frontrunner in the Jones sweepstakes right now and could be adding some much-needed grit and tenacity to a club that has played to a league-leading 12 ties through 20 matches so far.

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What do you think of the Fire’s interest in Jones? Do you see them signing him in the coming days? How would Jones fare under Yallop in Chicago?

I hope this goes through…I really wanted to support the fire since I moved down here 4 years ago. I really want a MLS club to actually support. I use to dream of my home town getting a team (Milwaukee), there was talk about 7 years ago or so but fell through.

Now if only they can figure out how to lift the stadium and drop it downtown or next to Soldier Field (museum campus), then we’d be in business!

It was obviously a hyperbolic statement, but I love how you complain about people stating their opinion about where they wish a stadium was located. Especially since it seems you would complain if it was downtown.

@Brent…oh yea I know it’s not a difficult trip (I’ve indeed hopped on a bus down there a few times). I just think it would make more sense in the city and help with attendance as well. Oh and it would be more convenient (closer to home haha).

I just mean that it gets brought up incredibly often for how hard it would be to change. I completely understand it’s a hassle for some people to get to, but that’ll be true no matter where it is. The stadium is built. It’s done. Battle’s over.

People (not you) saying “I’d go see the Fire if they signed Player X and moved the stadium and MLS didn’t let games end in a tie and…” make me think they just should just take up bowling instead.

Not to be argumentative, but the stadium is a hassle to get to.
I live on the North side, and had season tickets a few years ago, but found it such a pain, not only to attend games, but finding people who wanted to trek out there as well (I don’t know that many soccer fans let along people who will watch MLS).
Toyota Park was built in the haste to construct SSSs with the ‘if you build it they will come’ mantra – with what we have witnessed with more accessible stadiums in KC, Philly, Toronto etc, its not a stretch to say the Bridgeview choice wasn’t the wisest choice in terms of a central, accessible location.

Fellow north sider (can’t believe I stay in Cubs country!) here Felix, I can imagine the frustration especially having season tickets. It’s not a fun short trip when it’s a week night game and you have to work the next morning.

I’m still considering getting some season tickets soon…we’ll see, maybe Jones will push me in the right direction.

I had season tickets for four years and got sick of it. I live right by the Globe in the city. The last game I went to was Fire/KC last summer. It literally took me longer to get to and from Bridgeview to see the game than it took me a few days later to get to and from New Buffalo, Michigan. Bridgeview was cool when the best thing in the world was the sss in Columbus, but it’s now way past it’s sell by date. Fire need to move into the city off of an el line other than the orange line. Oh, and Hauptman needs to sell to someone who actually wants to own a winner. If I was running MLS, I’d be crapping over how poor the relationship is between the team/owner and the potential fan base is in the 3rd biggest city in the county. See all those people in Grant Park during the WC? Barely any of the them schlep down to Bridgeview for the Fire games. I’ve spoken with many of them and it’s not because they are Eurosnobs. They don’t like the location and the owner/current product.

Toyota Park=Comiskey Park…just when it’s finished, the trend changes…. Comiskey just missed the retro-style renaissance and Toyota came just before downtown stadium became en vogue and MLS began to grow again out its shell…

If Seattle can invest money and manage to half to 2/3 fill a football stadium, so can Chicago-theoretically… this 10 million strong multi-ethnic metropolis is full of soccer fans….hire some competent people in the front office and marketing and invest in the squad- Soldier Field should have 35k-40k people easy… MLS season overlaps with two sucky baseball teams-make it happen (again)

Though I know Jermaine wants to live in L.A. (more photos with Paris Hilton and Charlie Sheen!), he did live in the Chi as a kid, so maybe he would agree to it. I still don’t know why the Galaxy would want Sasha over Jermaine though.

Maybe Kljestan was waaaay cheaper than Jones. Many MLS clubs would pass on Kljestan, even if he were relatively inexpensive (low DP rate), but I doubt that any club would reject Jones (thus, he can demand a much higher salary). Just a guess.

Those numbers mean nothing in the modern game, and they don’t mean what you think they do. People like throwing them around like they have some meaning. It’s a perfect example of how a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous. There are roles that are played within a team THAT HAVE ACTUAL NAMES, and they’re NOT identified by a jersey number. Instead, I read fans calling players a #6 or a #8 when that means nothing. Even before numbers were registered, they had little meaning to the role the player played on the field. Just stop it and use the name.

Also, Kljestan isn’t a regista. Another buzz word people have been using since Pirlo thrived in that role with Milan.

Dante = Soccer fan who thinks he’s older and wiser than he really is. Not so cute.

I’m not sure what’s more silly:

a) calling out bryan as a newbie (he has forgotten more about soccer than most will ever know)

b) pretending that “the modern game” is so different that old terms no longer apply. Why strive for this false sense of sophistication? When someone says, “He’s a #6,” people around here are savvy enough to know that that’s going to take on a different feel depending on the team’s formation; e.g., do they play in a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, do they have wingbacks, etc.? And people around here also know what “#6″ means, so the term is far from obsolete. Just because it doesn’t mean exactly the same thing as it did 20 years ago doesn’t matter.

It does matter because it’s lazy. I got news for you, you can’t put players in boxes in soccer. That’s not how it works. Of course that may just make your head explode because you’re too busy worrying about formations and numbers to try to come up with a formula for the game. This isn’t baseball or football.

You do realize formations don’t mean anything once the game starts, right? So saying a #6 does this in that formation and this in another just flies in the face of what the original definition of those numbers mean. Thanks for justifying my argument.

“There are roles that are played within a team THAT HAVE ACTUAL NAMES”

vs

“I got news for you, you can’t put players in boxes in soccer. That’s not how it works.”

Hmm, so you can put them in “roles” but not “boxes.” And those differ…in that you’ve decided that “roles” sounds flexible whereas certain other names sound too rigid. I’m beginning to think you’re just scared of numbers.

“…you’re too busy worrying about formations and numbers to try to come up with a formula for the game.”

Um, no. A number is just a name—some say “8,” others say “regista,” and still others say “box-to-box mid.” Everyone knows what you mean regardless of which term you use, so the one “worrying about numbers” would be you, not me. Griping about which term one person chose is pedantic (at best).

“You do realize formations don’t mean anything once the game starts, right?”

This is absurd. I don’t care what the opening lineup shows, but teams absolutely do play within formations and stick to those formations as part of their game plan (unless they utterly lack discipline and collapse). Any heat map will illustrate that players generally stay within their assigned area. Do they ever leave? Of course they do. They’re not dogs wearing electronic fence shock collars. But to say that formations “don’t mean anything” is to say that teams never have a game plan.

“So saying a #6 does this in that formation and this in another just flies in the face of what the original definition of those numbers mean.”

Yeah, the terms have become a bit looser over the years. Get over it. A #6 today still plays a whole lot more like a #6 of the past than a #8 today/past.

Dante – looks like King is taking care of this, but how can you, with a straight face, say those numbers don’t mean anything in the modern game? no one is arguing they mean exactly the same thing they used to but it gets a point across. you hear current coaches, like our own JK, refer to them ALL THE TIME. further, in the context of this conversation, it was OBVIOUS what the point was.

and yes, Kljestan has most certainly played more as a regista type than as a attacking mid or defensive mid (feel better?). which is why i used that term. he is a deep lying player that is going to create from a deeper position as opposed to further up the field. yet, he’s not the midfielder who is going to clean S up like Beckerman.

“You do realize formations don’t mean anything once the game starts, right? So saying a #6 does this in that formation and this in another just flies in the face of what the original definition of those numbers mean.”

i do agree that formations change throughout a game, but to say they mean nothing is ridiculous. they absolutely do. when saying a #6 does something, in any formation, the point is clear. the person is referring to the defensive minded midfielder (assuming there is one, which i never said there HAD to be).

sure, when those terms were created tactics were different, but once again, the point is a #6 describes a defensive minded midfielder, no matter the formation. this isn’t saying every formation will always have a #6 though.

point is, you are trying to play the semantics game yet, as King has pointed out, you aren’t even being consistent in your criticism and response to why i am wrong for using those terms. you are reading into the comment WAY too much when it was a simple point being made that Kljestan is more deep lying, like Sarvas, and not “an offensive mid” as Mark said.

and hey, maybe i read too much into Mark’s comment. maybe by saying “more of an offensive mid” he is referring to a deep lying type/regista/#8 and not a #10/attacking mid/trequartista.

Well, you guys , brian Dante , king Google Eye , beachbum … you sure know how to carry an interesting argument about players positions in the pitch . ( I am talking about World Football ) I think you are both very knowledgeable in the different formations and #’s given to the players for their assigned positions . I only know that # 1, is for the goalkeeper , and # 10 is for strikers or goal scores . I wish I new more , Congratulations to you , also for your well educated behavior in the sequence of the argument .

If they signed him , I hope that he is worth whatever amount of money they pay for him . Except for the goal he scored against Belgium , he was not consistent in his other performances . Maybe I am wrong , but he has to proved that he is a really good player , capable of playing in any first class European team .

I think coaches like klopas, yallop, sigi, arena need to change their tactics and their old school.
MLS needs better coaches from South America and Europe and even Mexico in order to attract better dps and young dps.
How in the world can we attract young dps when MLS coaches suck and can’t even develop their team.
If fans say, don’t bring ronaldinho his too fat bla bla bla, but look at the coaches MLS has.They totally suck and couldn’t coach a ronaldinho or jones or Beckham.
It’s pathetic how MLS fans and we are lucky they come to MLS.
Yes, MLS is getting better because soccer is growing in the US, but MLS needs better coaches, with better tactics, that connects to better betters and dps and that connects to a higher salary and a better future.
Everything connects in this world and MLS needs better coaches.
So if ronaldinho or Lampard or oba, you think they love MLS tactics and skills, nope but they are doing MLS a favor in growing the league. Heck, I would love Lampard as a coach in MLS. Same with kaka, he speaks 3 languages right.

By the way, from everything I hear, fire have no future or love from the fans anymore, due to ownership and stadium and Front office issues, why not go balls out and get jones, ronaldinho, chicharito.
Nothing will make people drive to a sucky stadium location unless you have stars, and hopefully a get coach and pretty good team.
Imagine fire getting back Bradley or some international coach with ronaldinho or chicharito. I feel so bad for Chicago, gorgeous city, it has everything but a fancy soccer team and stadium
I never see navy people their and they have a navy boot camp there right. Why not?

From your mouth to God’s ear my friend. How you screw up a team in a city so open to soccer as Chicago is beyond comprehension. Think about all those people they showed at halftime in Grant Park during the US World Cup games………..not going to Fire games. The owner has to go and the stadium situation needs to be addressed. I live in the city about a mile west of Wrigley field and literally got to and from New Buffalo, Michigan faster in the same week I got to and from a Fire game in Bridgeview, Illinois. Look at a map and figure out how screwed up that is. We’re used to taking the el anywhere and cars mean fewer beers and a longer commute.

And a repeat of the OLD NASL days…..1 maybe 2 Teams spend huge $$ and having an all star team while the rest of the league goes bankrupt.
“Free Market” is not the answer in MLS. Doing away with the allocation BS, Raising the Salary Cap & Min salary, even expanding to 4 DP’s I can get behind. Being like European Teams (Millions in Debt)….NO THANKS.